The present invention relates to a portable container for holding and dispensing wipes, for example, baby wipes, hand wipes, and the like. Of particular interest in respect to the present invention are moistened baby wipes made of soft cloths or paper towels and used to clean infants. Baby wipes are typically supplied in bulk in packaging designed to both protect the wipes from damage by contamination and avoid loss of the fluid(s) used to moisten and/or medicate the wipes. This packaging is generally intended to be inexpensive and consequently removing individual wipes from the packaging can be difficult, especially for a person who holds a baby in one hand whiles removing a wipe from the container with the other. Existing containers do not facilitate ease of removal of individual or small numbers of wipes with one hand, especially in travel situations.
In addition, existing containers do not provide for reliable heating of wipes to a controlled range of temperatures. It is desirable, especially for wipes which are being transported, to have warm wipes available for cleaning infants. Often parents will remove a wipe from the package and warm it against their skin before using the wipe to clean the infant. This process is time consuming, annoying to the parent because of the cold wipe against the skin, and inconvenient because of the difficulty in retrieving a wipe from the package. Additionally, it is desirable to carry, keep clean and accessible and warm other articles, for example, baby bottles, pacifiers, diapers, clothing, and the like.
Others in the art have recognized some of the above needs and deficiencies and have attempted to provide solutions thereto. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,082 to Page, et al. shows a portable baby wipe warmer and container for heating and storing wipes. The container is made of soft fabric material that has at least two compartments with a common heat conduction wall between (col. 1, 1. 51–67). The container has two zippers 5 & 6 for opening (col. 2, 1. 26–28). The container may be used for other baby articles which are enhanced by warmth (col. 2, 1. 18–22). The heat for Page's warmer is provided by an optional heat disc of FIG. 3. The disc is preferably a microwavable gel pack, exothermic gel boil pack, most preferably a microwavable gel pack (col. 3, 1. 5–12). Examples of these gel packs are given (col. 3,1. 12–18) which include the exothermic dry heat organic oxidation pack HotHands™ by Heatmax, Inc. of Dalton, Ga. This product contains a mixture of natural ingredients that when exposed to air react together to produce heat. This is accomplished through an extremely fast oxygenation (or rusting) process. Ingredients include: iron powder, water, salt, activated charcoal and vermiculite. HeatMax, Inc. has perfected the process so that their warmers, depending on the individual product, produce heat anywhere from 100° F. to 180° F. for a duration of 1 to 20+hours. These warmers are used and disposed of in everyday garbage.
While Page's warmer is useful for portable applications, it has several disadvantages, including difficulty in removing the wipes due to the use of zippers 5 & 6 for opening. The use of zippers in conjunction with the soft flexible fabric makes it difficult to open with one hand. In addition, the use of disposable exothermic warmers, or microwavable gel warmers creates problems ensuring a reliable supply of warmer discs. When the microwavable gel warmer has cooled, it must be microwaved again. When the disposable exothermic warmer is used up, it must be replaced. Additionally, there is no suggestion for regulating the temperature of the wipes in the container. While the exothermic warmer may be designed to maintain a specific heat for the warmer itself, there is no suggestion for regulating the amount of heat transferred from this disc to the wipes in the container. Consequently, as Page et al.'s container is exposed to differing ambient heat temperatures and differing heat loss due to the amount and frequency of opening, there is no assurance that the wipes will remain the proper temperature, or within a range of proper temperatures, and may very well be maintained in a too hot or too cold condition. Further, with either of the suggested heat sources, once the disc is inserted in the warmer, it continues to warm and cannot be turned off. This unnecessarily wastes energy and uses up discs when the warmer is only used for short periods of time.